World · East Asia & Pacific · 1 hr ago
Japanese man thanks parents for supporting his nine years out of school
Shigenobu Ito missed all nine years of elementary and junior high school in Japan.
At an event in Morioka, he thanked his parents for accepting his decision and continuing to support him.
His mother, Nobuko Ito, has written a book about how the family supported four children through more than 15 years of school refusal combined.
Ito later chose to take high school entrance exams after talking with peers online about education and careers.
He completed high school and vocational school without missing a day, then began working for a design company in Tokyo this spring.
A Japanese education ministry survey classified about 354,000 elementary and junior high students as chronically absent in fiscal 2024.
His mother hopes sharing their experience will help others feel less isolated and make it easier to talk about school refusal.
Shigenobu Ito, 21, thanked his parents for supporting his decision not to attend school during all nine years of elementary and junior high school.
He spoke at an event in Morioka on Oct. 17 marking the release of a book about his family’s experience.
His mother, Nobuko Ito, wrote the book, which describes how she and her husband supported their four children through more than 15 years of school refusal combined.
After later deciding to take high school entrance exams, Shigenobu attended high school and vocational school without missing a day.
He began working for a design company in Tokyo this spring.
- Who
- Shigenobu Ito, a 21-year-old office worker, and his mother, Nobuko Ito.
- What
- Shigenobu thanked his parents for supporting his decision not to attend school. The family’s experience is told in a book written by his mother.
- When
- He spoke at the event on Oct. 17, 2026.
- Where
- Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan.
- Why
- The event marked the release of a book about the family’s experience. His mother said she hoped sharing it would encourage others facing school refusal.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Shigenobu stopped attending after two weeks.
He did not attend school, but took part in activities including youth baseball and trail running.
Online gaming conversations with peers about careers and education led him to consider taking high school entrance exams.
He attended high school and vocational school without missing a day.
Shigenobu and his mother took part in a Morioka event marking the release of her book.
Shigenobu started working for a design company in Tokyo.
- Age
- 21
- School refusal
- All nine years of elementary and junior high school
- Book
- Shiawasena Futoko (Happy school refusal), published by Art Shuppan
- Family experience
- More than 15 combined years of school refusal among four children
- Event location and date
- Morioka, Oct. 17, 2026
- Survey figure
- About 354,000 elementary and junior high school students nationwide were classified as chronically absent in fiscal 2024
What people are saying
It meant a lot that my mother and father accepted my decision not to go to school and continued to support me.
it was my own decision to go.
Many people are hurting because of school refusal, but it remains difficult to talk about it publicly, leaving many feeling isolated. I hope to encourage others by sharing our family's experience.